2010 – 2011 saw Air New Zealand buffeted by the perfect storm as global oil prices rose, costs increased and events such as the Christchurch earthquakes and the Japanese tsunami unfolded.

The post-recession shopper was a bargain hunter looking for a deal and Air NZ was perceived as being positioned at the end top of the market.

To counteract these challenges the overwhelming focus had to be about bums on seats and growing revenue.

In addition to driving growth in market share, ROl, revenue and sales, the brand health and the perception of the airline as being competitive were also key objectives.

The introduction of “The Flyer” a new creative and media strategy for retail, was a major success with record sales, increases in value perception measures and never before seen levels of ROI. All this against a backdrop that could have created the perfect storm for the airline.